Cracks in the Mask
by Anica106
Summary: There are things...that I wish I could say were only dreams...
1. And back in rain

A/N: Hi everyone. This is a story idea that I've been playing around with for a while. My friend SFD accused me once of being an angst-obsessed imagist writer who cares more about character motives than actual plot. Fair enough. I _am_ kind of an angst-obsessed imagist writer who a lot of times cares more about character motives than actual plot...but since SFD asked so nicely( read: pestered me mercilessly until I agreed in order to get some sleep), I've decided to try my hand at a drama, with a villain and everything...I hope you guys like it. Tell me if you do. You can tell me if you don't, too, but tell me why you didn't like it so I can fix it. Um...let's see...oh, yeah: There are a couple of OCs scattered here and there, but before you hit the back button because of that, I promise they don't play a major role in the story. This is most definitely not a Mary Sue fic. Well, I hope you enjoy it...

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho. 

Cracks In The Mask

Ch. 1--And back in rain

_"String him up."_

Kazu grinned viciously at the demon cowering against the base of the tree as he spoke. He tossed the end of the rope he was holding up into the branches, where it landed with eerie accuracy in the outstretched hand of the woman perched casually on one of the lower limbs.

"Make sure you tie it properly this time, Elani," Kuronue called from the ground, shielding his eyes from the pouring rain and glancing up at the tree, scanning the branches for her. "It's unprofessional to have to do it twice."

"That wasn't my fault," Elani protested, as the man on the ground gave a terrified moan. Elani, who had been swinging her slender legs in a bored fashion, flipped upside down, hanging by her legs from the tree branch. Lightning flashed, and for an instant she ceased to be a dark silhouette and the others could see her raise one elegant violet eyebrow at Kuronue. "You'll need to raise him off the ground if I'm to tie this to a suitable branch, Sir Professional."

Kuronue rolled his eyes at her and beckoned to Kazu. The two of them advanced toward the base of the tree. Their captive whimpered and attempted to press himself farther back against the tree, clawing uselessly at the rope around his neck. 

"Stop," he moaned. "Oh please..."

Kazu and Kuronue each grabbed one of the demon's shoulders and pulled him to his feet. The demon moaned again and dug his trembling feet into the mud in a futile attempt to stop his progress. The rain had started to fall harder, and thunder rolled in the distance as the demon started gasping, "Help me...God--somebody--help--"

Kazu laughed as he helped Kuronue to hoist the demon up into Elani's waiting grasp. The fish demon pulled her captive up by the shoulders and dragged him up to a higher branch. 

The trembling demon seemed beyond words. He simply whimpered and shook, his eyes rolling back into his head. Elani brushed his face with her green-tinged hand in a mock gesture of comfort, the securely fastened the end of the rope to the tree limb.

"You're sure it's fastened?" Kuronue called again from below, raising his voice to be heard over the sheets of rain now falling from the sky.

"For goodness's sake," snapped Elani. "I do know how to tie a--"

"Can we get this over with?" came the voice of another silhouette in the shadows of the surrounding trees. "I was planning on getting some sleep tonight."

Whatever color was still in the demon's face left it. Another demon was emerging slowly from the shadows, a tall demon with large golden eyes, silver hair that seemed to gleam even in the current downpour, and several long, sleek tails. "Unless you're ready to answer our question?" the newcomer added, looking skyward and meeting the demon's terrified eyes. 

The demon opened his mouth, but seemed unable to produce sound. Tears began to stream down his face, mixing with the rain as he sobbed soundlessly. 

Youko allowed himself a disdainful smile as Elani smirked, Kazu laughed again, and Kuronue crossed his arms, looking disgusted. He leaped upward and landed gracefully beside the prisoner, leaning in close to his tearstained face. "I know that your death has been guaranteed you by your superiors if you disclose the location of the weapon," he said softly. "Unfortunately, I will personally guarantee you the same result if you remain silent."

The demon closed his eyes, as if by doing so he could turn this into some terrible dream. Youko raised his eyebrows. "No?" he asked as thunder rumbled again. He nodded to Elani, then raised his eyebrows further as he realized that she'd been staring him up and down for the past several minutes, her pink tongue slightly visible through her painted lips. She grinned, totally unabashed, and made to throw the captive demon over the side of the tree. He screamed, and she drew him back. 

"How about now?" Youko asked, leaning in even closer so that the demon turned away in terror. When there was still no answer, he smiled. "It doesn't really matter. The Akan region is not enormous. We'll simply have to search it inch by inch."

At this, the hopeless demon finally seemed to find his voice. His fear seemed, for now, to be giving way to anger. 

"You won't find it," he spat at Youko. "It's hidden well enough from scum like you--"

He stopped at the sudden looks of satisfaction that crossed the four thieves' faces. 

"So it is in Akan, after all." Kuronue gave Youko a mock bow. "Nice."

The demon turned red, then white. "You--"

Youko gave him a last, fleeting smile before dropping suddenly out of the tree and landing deftly on the ground. 

"So all we have to do is search Akan?" Kazu said. "Seems too easy."

Elani jumped down to stand beside him. "Well, I'm not complaining. I thought we were going to have to cover the whole of Makai." 

Youko shrugged. "I told all of you that all it would take would be a little patience to narrow it down."

"Go team," Kuronue returned sarcastically. "Can we go now?"

Youko nodded his agreement, and the four turned and began to walk together into the woods. 

"You can't--leave me here!" the unfortunate demon cried from the branch to which he was still tied. "I'll be--eaten by a--a tree-dweller or--"

Youko paused. He turned slowly and made his way back to the clearing to stand underneath the demon's branch. The rain streamed down his face as he looked up to survey him calmly. 

"You're probably right," he said, and leaped upward, grabbing the legs of the demon as he landed next to him. Youko vaulted back off the tree branch, still holding to the demon's legs, and did not let go when the demon reached the end of his rope and the noose yanked him back in protest. 

Youko dropped the body on his way down as if he did not want to soil his hands with it any longer than necessary. The other three looked back up into the tree as lightning flashed again, illuminating the head that now dangled from the tree limb. 

"You see?" Elani said to Kuronue. "It was secure after all. You worry too much..."

****

Kurama knew he was dreaming. He had not thought of this particular memory in a long time, but it was one of hundreds of similar ones. He hoped that he would wake up soon; this was not a part of his life that he looked back on with any fondness. As the dream faded, a voice completely unconnected with this memory or any of Kurama's others said, softly,

"I see...So this is how you are..."

Kurama had barely any time to register this. As soon as the voice spoke, he felt himself leave the world of dreams, as if he had been yanked out of a warm blanket. He opened his eyes...

****

It was still dark outside. Kurama sat up quickly, his sweat-soaked hair sticking to his face. He looked down at himself and realized that he _had_ been forcibly separated from his quilt, courtesy of Hiei, who lay beside him, now clutching Kurama's half of the blanket and watching him out of cool crimson eyes.

"What did you do that for??" Kurama demanded, a little wildly. 

Hiei paused before answering. "You were making noises. If one of your ningens comes in here and finds me, you'll have some explaining to do."

"Me? _I_ live here," Kurama said, still rather distractedly. _Where had that voice... _"Go back outside if you're that worried."

Hiei made no move to leave. "Have you _looked_ outside? No doubt I'd be blown in here anyway if I didn't get struck by lightning first. I half expect my tree to come crashing through your wall any second now."

Kurama gave a half-smile, though the mention of a thunderstorm did nothing to make him forget what he'd just witnessed. Hiei watched his eyes, and when he next spoke, it was in a more serious tone.

"What were you dreaming about?"

Kurama hesitated. "There are things...that I wish I could say were only dreams." 

Hiei looked at him a while longer, then said, "Go back to sleep."

"Give me back my covers."

Hiei looked for a moment like he was going to argue, then tossed the blanket back over Kurama. "It's all sweaty anyway" he said stiffly.

Kurama smiled to himself and turned over, closing his eyes. He felt better, but the dream still troubled him. He told himself that there was no reason to worry everyone; he wouldn't mention it. If it happened again, he decided, he would go see Genkai about it privately. He yawned as he felt his limbs grow heavy, and allowed himself to return to sleep.

****

On the other side of the wall between dimensions, another man was sitting up in bed as well. His dark eyes studied the image being projected into his handheld communicator. The rain somewhat obstructed the view through the window, but he could still see that Kurama had fallen asleep. As he watched, the smaller boy beside Kurama raised himself quietly onto an elbow and peered over at the redhead. When he seemed to satisfy himself that the boy truly was sleeping, he slid out from under his side of the blanket and folded it over, placing it on Kurama as well, so that he had two layers. The small boy then leaned back onto his pillow and folded his arms behind his head, staring at the ceiling, watching the rainshadows dance across it. 

The dark-eyed man watched a the two boys a little while longer, then held the communicator up to his mouth.

"Very well," he murmured. "You may proceed as you see fit."

The image in the glass flickered and died, leaving the room and the man in total darkness.

****

The boy in the tree shut his communicator with a snap. He rose to his feet and stared through Kurama's window, ignoring the rain in his eyes. His eyes narrowed at the sight of Kurama's sleeping form, and an expression of pure hatred crossed his face. _You wait_, he thought, and his hands clenched into fists. _You wait. Your time will come._ _You'll feel it soon enough. _He stared at Kurama a while longer, then slipped his communicator into his pocket. 

_You'll feel it, _he thought again, and his eyes shifted to the smaller form of the boy on the other side of the bed...

****

A/N: So...was it okay? I know how I want to end this, but I am not quite sure of all the details, so it might be a while between updates. If you have a suggestion, I'd be more than happy to listen and I might take it if it doesn't interfere with the few loose plot threads I have in my head already...-_- Oh, and before anyone starts: Elani is not going to come to the present and get together with Kurama. Sorry. I can't write romance worth a flip, and besides, relationships between original characters and OCs are distracting to me. Please do drop a review, though, and I'll try to get this updated as soon as I can. Oh, yeah, and if you can guess the random poem that my title comes out of each chapter, you'll get...my...congratulations. And a mention in the next chapter.^_^


	2. Nature's first green

A/N: Hi, everyone...(is sheepish) I know, it took me forever, I'm sorry. I was kind of lost for a while as to where I wanted the story to go. Plus, this past month has not exactly been stress-free. -- But hopefully this new chapter will be OK. I hope you all like it. By the way, I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho.

This part is review responses, so if you don't want to read them, go ahead and scroll down.

LinkCrew: I'm sorry, I'm sorry! (Laughs) That was mean of me to wait so long, I know. (This is why I usually finish stories before I post them.) But this month has been so hectic( chorus performances, AP exams, graduation, etc) that I didn't have much time for this. Hopefully now I will be able to update sooner.

RainyDayz: Thank you for the compliment. And no, this story is not intended to be yaoi. Sorry if you got that impression; I should have clarified that at the beginning. The reason I put that scene in the first chapter when they're in bed is that I wanted to show that they're very close friends--this is important to the story. Thanks for reviewing.

Cracks in the Mask

Ch. 2--Nature's first green

"Before we get started, we're going to take some time to familiarize ourselves with tragedy as a type of literature. I've handed you all a list of terms and phrases that have to do with tragedy, and I advise you to be familiar with them , because they're likely to show up on the exam."

Kurama was barely taking in a word of Professor Yonemoto's lecture. The midmorning sun that slid through the half-open windows of the classroom was much more inviting, and Kurama felt himself being hypnotized by the steady whoosh of the air conditioner and the rhythmic chirping of a bird perched on the sill. He did not normally allow his mind to wander in class, but in addition to the droning voice of the professor and his slight boredom with the subject being taught, he was suffering from last night's lack of sleep. He'd woken up several more times in the night, being jolted from a worse dream each time, and each time hearing the strange, distant voice that had woken him from his first nightmare. It seemed that whoever was causing him to have these memory-dreams( he had not had a nightmare in years, and was beginning to suspect that these new ones were not entirely natural) was deliberately choosing to view memories of the worst, most horrible acts that Youko had committed. Kurama had no delusions about his past, but having all these terrible, shameful crimes paraded across his mind one after another had made him slightly sick. He had considered not coming to school today, and he thought, as his eyelids began to close, that, the way things were going, it probably would have done him more good to stay home.

"--And since Shakespeare can be a little difficult to understand at times, we'll be reading most of the important scenes aloud in class. Keep in mind, as we're reading, that list of terms I gave you and be prepared to use them correctly in an essay over Macbeth as a tragedy."

Gods, he was tired. He hoped his behavior last night hadn't alarmed Hiei. Kurama had, at one point that morning, actually considered mentioning to him how troubled he was by the dreams. He felt that Hiei, who'd had to make peace with many of these same things in his life, might understand where he was coming from more than Yusuke or Kuwabara would. However, he had decided against this almost as soon as the idea had entered his mind. Hiei often got impatient and uncomfortable with discussions such as this, and he had, it seemed, just gotten to the point of trusting the members of the Reikai Tantei. Although Hiei had known and trusted Kurama for much longer than the others, Kurama did not want to do anything that might distance him or cause him to rebuild the walls that Yusuke and the others had worked so hard to bring down. More to the point, Kurama admitted to himself, it made him feel a little pathetic to think of running to Hiei, sniffling about having nightmares.

"Mr. Minamino?"

Kurama looked up, startled. Everyone in the class had turned to stare at him. Mr. Yonemoto was looking at him with raised eyebrows and was tapping his foot, a bad sign. Kurama gave him an apologetic smile and hoped his normally spotless record would be enough to keep him out of trouble. "Sorry, Mr. Yonemoto. I didn't hear you."

"Obviously," he replied with a minimal amount of sarcasm in his voice, which Kurama took to be a good sign.. "I asked you if you would mind reading the part of Macbeth in the scenes we do together in class."

"Oh--of course not," Kurama replied, his mind still elsewhere. Maybe he was making too big a deal out of this whole thing. Just because he'd had a nightmare didn't mean that someone was out to get him. His recent feeling of nervousness could easily be attributed to the fact that for the first time in a while, he did not have a crisis on his hands. It had been one thing after another, with the mess involving the Saint Beasts, rescuing Yukina, the Dark Tournament, and the situation with Sensui. He wasn't used to down time anymore. He told himself, as the bell rang and students began to file out into the hallways, not to go looking for trouble that wasn't there; the others didn't need that any more than he did. Nodding to Mr. Yonemoto, he gathered his books exited the classroom, making his way toward the double glass doors at the front of the school building.

==============================

Kurama stared at the sidewalk as he walked home, uneasy feelings still nagging at him. Maybe he _should_ tell someone about this, just in case--

In case what? his mind broke in with a slight sneer. _In case the scary monster from your bad dream comes to get you? They'll all love _that.

Kurama flushed a little at his childishness, but he could not help feeling as though he was being hunted...and this was a feeling that he had experience with. He realized that he had been automatically looking to the right and left, eyes searching for a threat. He shook his head to clear it, telling himself that if it _was_ bad news, he'd know soon enough; there was no point in worrying.

Several white petals entered his vision, blown gently along by the wind. Kurama shielded his eyes from the sun and looked up. He smiled; the trees were alive with color. Spring had always been his favorite time of year. He had been amazed when he'd seen his first spring in Ningenkai, seen the wonderful array of flowers and trees. They had made him long for home. Kurama found himself thinking of Makai meadows filled with blossoms of purple and blue and white...

Without realizing it, Kurama had passed the street he lived on, his feet unconsciously taking the path to the meadow a short walk away. Kurama stopped, the started walking again with a shrug. Seeing flowers might help to put him at ease. He breathed in the scent of warm grass, smiling with a quiet joy unknown to others, who saw plants as nothing more than lifeless clumps of colored cells, and allowed the trees to call to him and wrap him in their strong presence. Their patient strength did more to calm him than words ever could, and he laughed out loud with pleasure as the little ones, all the flowers near him, leaned in close, seeking his touch.

"The flowers are beautiful this year."

Kurama gasped, badly startled. The flowers seemed to leap back, too, as if they'd received an electric shock. Kurama jumped to his feet, eyes wide and alert. The voice that had spoken was the voice from his dream. He knew it. He looked wildly around until he caught sight of the boy standing a few feet away.

He looked to be about seventeen, the same age as Kurama's human body. He was quite attractive, with smooth pale skin and elegant cheekbones. His dark rust-colored hair had been allowed to grow out a little, and his narrow, piercing green eyes were fixed intently on Kurama. Kurama blinked. It seemed almost like the boy wasn't....constant. He kept expecting him to simply blink out or fade away. He swallowed, trying to get control of himself. The boy waited calmly, not taking his eyes from Kurama.

"You're the voice I've been hearing," Kurama said finally, keeping a wary distance between himself and the boy. "You've been sending me dreams."

The boy said nothing. His gaze traveled to the blossoms that covered the trees like blankets.

"You like flowers," he said finally. "I've watched you for a long time."

"You've been inside my dreams," Kurama repeated. "Why?"

"You touch them like they're alive."

The boy reached out to brush one of the delicate blooms with his fingers, and again Kurama felt as though he was looking at a fuzzy TV screen. He opened his mouth, paused, then said, hesitantly, "You're not...quite..." He had been about to say "real," but that was ridiculous; he was standing right there. The boy turned his blank green eyes back to Kurama's face.

"Is that why they come alive for you?"

Kurama's heart leaped into his throat. Whoever this boy was, he knew...what else did he know?

"Who are you?" he asked, his palms starting to sweat..

Again, it took a while for the boy to answer. When he did, he gazed calmly into Kurama's eyes and spoke in a soft, level voice.

"I'm going to hurt you."

An irrational panic had begun to well up inside Kurama. He was trembling slightly, and his ragged breaths caught in his throat. "Why?" was all he could choke out, his voice shaking.

The boy's eyes bore into him.

"Because you treat flowers better than people."

Kurama stood rooted to the spot as the boy turned to leave. He wanted to run after him, to catch him, or at least to call him back and try to find out who he was one more time, but he couldn't do it. He felt paralyzed, and though the flowers around him reached out to him with concern, he could not find the strength to answer.

========================

"That's all? He just walked up and said he was going to hurt you?"

Kurama nodded, his hands in his lap.

"And you have no idea who this guy is?"

Kurama shook his head wearily.

Yusuke scratched his head. "Gee, man, I dunno. You don't think he could've just been some weirdo?"

"Kurama's been having dreams about him," Botan reminded him. "And he knew about spirit energy."

"But Kurama told us he was sitting in the flowers when he saw the kid. He was half asleep; maybe he used some of his energy without meaning to and the kid saw the flowers move. I mean, he didn't say the words 'spirit energy.'"

"That's possible," Botan agreed cautiously. "But it still leaves the dreams...Kurama, are you sure it was the same voice?"

"I--" Kurama hesitated. It was hard to be sure of anything while he was being cross-examined like this. He thought hard about the voice in his dream; looking up, he saw that everyone was staring at him.

"I am almost positive it was the same voice," Kurama said finally.

They all looked at each other blankly. "And he didn't give any reason at all for what he said?" Kuwabara asked after a few beats of silence.

"...No," Kurama said after a slight pause. He didn't quite understand why, but he did not want to tell the others about the boy's accusation. Even though the words still didn't make much sense to him, a cold knot formed in his stomach when he thought of them.

"Do you think this guy is _capable_ of hurting you?" Yusuke asked, tilting his head toward Kurama. "I mean, did you sense any spirit energy coming off him?"

"I...I don't..." Kurama searched the memory carefully. "No," he said with sudden certainty. He had felt no spirit energy coming from the boy, he was positive. Had the panic he'd felt been totally unfounded, then?

Yusuke gave a small shrug. "So...should we really even be worried about this? I mean, Kurama can kick butt. Guys who can blow up planets don't mess with him, let alone skinny teenagers with no spirit energy."

Kuwabara nodded. "Hate to say I agree with Urameshi, but..."

Kurama forced himself to smile. "You're right. We shouldn't worry. Most likely, nothing will come of this." The knot in his stomach intensified.

Yusuke clapped his hands together and stood up. "All right, then. Who's up for the arcade?" He and Kuwabara left, already laughing at a joke one of them had made.

Botan stood up, too, but she continued to study his face. "Are you sure you're all right, Kurama?" she asked, a note of concern in her voice.

Kurama nodded. "Thank you, I'm fine. I've just...been a little jumpy lately."

Botan shrugged. "Maybe you should go to the arcade with the others. It might help you relax."

"Maybe I'll do that," Kurama said, smiling. Botan smiled back and walked out of Yusuke's house, closing the door behind her.

Kurama stood silently for a few moments, then lowered himself slowly into a chair. He closed his eyes, his exhaustion catching up with him.

"You're still worried." The voice came from the window sill.

Kurama didn't turn around. "You didn't talk the entire time. What do you think about this?"

Hiei turned to gaze out the window. "It only matters what _you_ think. You're the one he's after."

Kurama hesitated. "I think..."

"That there is cause for worry," Hiei finished.

Kurama exhaled through gritted teeth, impatient with himself. "He can't hurt me. I am positive that he cannot physically hurt me."

"Maybe he doesn't want to hurt you physically."

Something about the slow way Hiei said this made Kurama turn to look at him. Hiei's eyes were fixed in the distance as if he'd just had an unpleasant thought. He turned to look at Kurama. "This has happened to you before...people wanting to hurt you..."

Kurama jumped to his feet, horror in his eyes.

"My mother."

=============================

A/N: So...what do you think? I'd still appreciate suggestions if anyone has them. Please review, and hopefully the next chapter won't take as long to post.


	3. Where no storms come

A/N: Hello, everyone. I know, I'm late updating again, sorry! I'll try to make this chapter worth the wait. the next chapters may contain hints of an AU storyline. I've thought and thought and I have decided that it is impossible to do what I want to do with this story and keep it completely canon. There won't be any major differences; the changes I plan to make occur before the start of the YYH series, in Kurama's and Hiei's pasts. Specifically, that they knew each other when Kurama was still a Youko. I have tweaked Hiei's past a little--nothing huge, he's still the forbidden child of the Koorime, only in my story the thieves who raised him meet a...tragic...end. I have also created a past for Kurama. That should be all. (shrugs) You'll find out about all of it in flashback. Anyway, I hope that doesn't bother anyone, and please enjoy the story.

Review responses:

Yumi: (Blushes) Thank you for the compliment! I can't draw you a smiley face, but I want to. Blame quick-edit.

RainyDayz/LinkCrew: Again, I can only laugh helplessly and offer my apologies--I don't even have the excuse of a hectic schedule this time. I've done nothing this past week but plan my birthday party( I'm turning 18...it feels very weird...). I really am sorry--this is the most trouble I've ever had writing a story, and it's taking a while to collect my thoughts each time so I don't write myself into a corner--I really want this story to be good, because I think its idea is good. Thank you so much for continuing to review; it's really encouraging.( Lol, I could use your idea of reviewing several times under different names to keep after my friend about _her_ story). I can't make you a smiley face because of quick-edit, but...(grins)

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho. Believe me, this is a good thing. If I were responsible for writing episodes, I doubt we'd have gotten to the Saint Beast saga by now.

Cracks in the Mask

Ch.3--Where no storms come

Kurama ran.

Hiei _flew_.

Panting, gasping for breath, his legs slapping the ground painfully hard with each step, Kurama soon lost sight of Hiei completely as he tore through the trees overhead. He didn't care. Every screaming, straining fiber of his body was focused on reaching the nice two-story house with the garden out front, the house that smelled like mint potpourri, that was plastered with memories of the last seventeen years of his life, the house that contained the woman that meant more to him than anyone in the world...

The house that was _too far away_...

Kurama raced through town, causing drivers to swerve, cursing, as he ran right into oncoming traffic, and hearing screams as he shoved happy afternoon shoppers out of his way. None of it registered. How could he have been so stupid? Hiei was right; how many times had his mother been threatened on his account? Her safety should have been his first priority in this situation. It hadn't even entered his mind.

Sweat poured down Kurama's face as he continued to run full force, ignoring the growing pain in his side. _He had to have gotten to her already._ Kurama had been at Yusuke's house for over an hour. There was no telling...there was no telling what he...

Kurama rounded a corner and nearly collided with a very out-of-breath Hiei. He skidded to a halt and coughed as the catch in his side intensified. He forced himself to look at Hiei, not wanting to ask, not wanting to know...

"She's safe, fox," Hiei said before Kurama could even open his mouth. "She's fine. She was sitting on the couch looking at a photo album when I got there."

Kurama closed his eyes, relief flooding his body. When he opened them, his vision was clouded with spots caused by the pressure he'd put on them. Hiei was still standing in front of him, panting slightly. "Do you think that there was any danger in the first place?" Kurama asked, a little hesitantly. "Would it be a further overreaction on my part to keep watch over her for the next few days?"

Hiei gave a half shrug. "I see no reason to take chances. But you can't be thinking of doing it yourself--your teachers would surely notice the absence of the great Shuichi Minamino."

Kurama's lips twitched in spite of the situation. "You think I should ask Koenma for guards, then?"

Hiei snorted. "Spirit-World-issue guards tend to possess roughly the same intelligence as the spears they carry."

"That's true," Kurama admitted, flashing back on several raids whose success had depended upon this fact. He cocked an eyebrow at Hiei. "So what would you have me do? Shall I hire a band of underworld demon thieves from the pits of Makai? No doubt they'd do the best job."

" No doubt you'd know," Hiei returned dryly. "But there's no need for that. I'll watch her myself."

Kurama blinked, taken by surprise. Hiei was not normally one to volunteer to help with anything, let alone keeping a quite possibly pointless vigil over a ningen woman. "Are you sure, Hiei?"

Hiei waved the question away impatiently. "What else have I to do all day? No one will notice if I disappear into the shadows for a while."

"Thank you, Hiei, that would be a great help," Kurama said, the tension in his mind easing. There was no way that anything could happen to Shiori while she was under Hiei's protection.

Hiei shrugged again, dismissively. "You should go home," he remarked. "It's nearly sundown. I wouldn't want to hear the Makai Thief Lord scolded for staying out too late."

Kurama laughed quietly. "You should eat with us," he said, knowing full well Hiei would never agree. "I believe we're having macaroni and cheese."

Hiei rolled his eyes, not bothering to answer. "I'll follow you home. I should be able to keep watch over the house from that large tree near your window."

Kurama turned toward him. "Thank you for doing this, Hiei," he said again, with sincere gratitude. "Although I'm not the one you're supposed to be watching..."

Hiei gave a crooked smile. "Don't do anything you don't want me to see."

Kurama covered a grin as Hiei bent his legs, then vaulted into the canopy of tree leaves like only he could. Although his body was starting to feel the exhaustion that came from the sudden rush, then loss, of adrenaline, he realized that he really did feel much better, mentally, now that he had enlisted Hiei's help. He knew Hiei; once the fire demon had made up his mind to do something, he was totally reliable. He would make it his life's mission for the next few days to guard Shiori. Smiling, Kurama glanced once more up at the trees before picking up his discarded book bag and resuming his walk home.

===============================

The boy leaned against the brick wall of a convenience store, following Kurama with his eyes and thinking about the scene he'd just witnessed. The dark-eyed man face in his communicator studied him with raised eyebrows. "They were right, you know," he said mildly. "You would have done well to attack the woman."

The boy's face tightened slightly as he continued to watch Kurama. "We discussed this. I'll find another way. I've found another way."

The boy's insolence didn't seem to bother the dark-eyed man; instead, he appeared to be amused. "Yes, I remember. You explained your...reservations...about harming her quite thoroughly." He looked at the boy for another few seconds, then glanced away as he realized that he was receiving no attention from him. "Still," he said, idly examining his hands, "he never would have forgiven himself if she'd died. It _was_ the perfect opportunity."

"It will be a better opportunity now," the boy insisted, still not bothering to look at the communicator's screen.

The man chuckled. "As you say," he said, his lips curving into a small smirk. He broke their connection without bothering to make a goodbye.

The boy let out a slow breath. It was almost time. There would be a little more watching, then...

He turned and walked down the alley next to the store, aware of how easily he faded into the shadows. _That's one thing you and I have in common, Koorime,_ he thought. _Let's see if there are any others._

===========================

The tall, yellow ogre stood nervously in front of Koenma's overflowing desk. The Reikai prince was looking at him very hard, his hands splayed on the papers in front of him. All activity in the normally bustling office was, for the moment, stopped, as everyone watched Koenma apprehensively.

"What do you mean, 'There is an anomaly?'" Koenma asked the ogre in a dangerously quiet voice. "What anomaly?"

The ogre hesitated, obviously not wanting to be the bearer of this news. "In this...in this case, sir, it's a fluctuation in the dimension wall...sort of a warped space...it might just be a monitoring glitch, but...It's just that...it was located in Yusuke's city, so we felt we should tell you..."

Koenma put his face in his hands. _Why did it have to be now? It's barely been a month since the last mess..._

"Uh...sir?" Jorge said tentatively from beside him. "Are you all right?"

Koenma took a while to answer. When he did, it was only after a deep, calming breath. "Get me Botan."

He leaned back in his chair and thought, not for the first time, that Earth was really more trouble than it was worth...

========================

A/N: Whew, there's another one done...it was a little shorter than I'd planned, but we're done with the "preamble" now...things will heat up in the next chapter. I really hope you liked it. Thank you for your encouragement so far, and I'd appreciate more, along with suggestions if anyone has them. I will try to update as soon as possible! (Insert forbidden smiley-face here.)


	4. When heaven was falling

A/N: Hello again, and if you've been waiting for an update, thanks for being patient with me. My excuse this time is that I'm looking into college registration and CLEP tests, and that's taken a little time. (I know, that's not a very good reason (Laughs).) , This is an important chapter and it took me a while to write, so I really hope everyone enjoys it. I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho...

Review Responses:

Lady-Videl: Thank you very much for the compliment! It is kind of sad, isn't it? There are things coming that are even sadder...but hopefully it will turn out all right in the end. (smiles)

Yami no Kokoro: (grins) Thanks, I wasn't sure how the dream would go over. I'm glad you liked it. (laughs) Really glad, because a lot of this story will involve flashbacks. And if everything goes well, the boy's plan will become clearer in this chapter. Thanks for reviewing!

Chibi Rose-chan: (Laughs) Hopefully _I_ have a better idea of what's going on at this point. Thank you for reviewing; I hope you like this chapter.

SkyFireDragon13: Ha, you THINK you know how it's going to end...probably our IM chat the other day made you rethink _that_ idea...lol, what happened instead was that you found out that even _I_ don't know exactly how it will end...and yes, you'll get more flashbacks. The story hinges on them. OK, so maybe I don't have a solid excuse for not updating sooner; you're sure one to talk about getting things done on time, lol. And you're also right about my last chapter; that's something I'm trying to avoid in this one. And I'll try to write the chorus one. (If anyone's reading this, how do you feel about a humor fic where everyone joins a chorus? I have plenty of real-life humor that's happened with mine(two words: tenor jokes--you chorus guys know what I'm talking about, lol...)) Thank you for the compliment, Yago; coming from you it means a lot. And you're welcome for helping with your story. Thank _you_ for helping me with mine.

RainyDayz/LinkCrew: Happy birthday to you, too! Mine was about a week ago; I turned 18. It's cool having birthdays when there's no school (grins). Thanks for being patient; I'm really trying to make this good. (I hope my writer's block didn't cause any permanent damage to your kitchen, heheh...) My friend SFD (see above, lol) helped me sort through it all and I feel better about the story now. Thanks so much for all your compliments! I know what you mean; I think Hiei and Kurama's friendship is touching, too. It might seem like I don't feel that way because of what's going to happen in the story soon, but I'll spend the _rest_ of the story proving that I do. Thanks again for continuing to review; it makes me really happy! (grins) I am of the opinion that it is impossible to "talk out" reviews...the ones I write to people are always, I'm sure, irritatingly long, lol. Hope you like this!

Cracks in the Mask

Ch. 4--When heaven was falling

The sky was slowly turning from pink to blue as Hiei shifted on the branch of a large tree in Kurama's yard, trying to find a comfortable position. He closed his eyes briefly and stifled a yawn, glad that he had made himself sleep the previous night. He had been inclined to stay awake and keep watch over Shiori, and had had to remind himself that Kurama was in the house at night, that he himself was a light sleeper and would surely wake up if a struggle took place inside, and that if he didn't sleep he would be in no shape to protect anyone the next day if the need arose.

He craned his neck to peer into the open window of Kurama's kitchen, where he could hear someone moving around. Shiori was reaching into cabinets, taking out bowls and pans and putting them onto the countertop. As Hiei watched, she opened the refrigerator and took out a carton of milk and a box of eggs. She put these, along with other ingredients, into a bowl and began to stir, checking every now and then to see whether the stove had warmed up. When she was satisfied that it had, she placed a pan on one of the burners and sprayed it, then began ladling the thick mixture in the bowl into the pan, where it immediately started to sizzle.

Hiei raised an eyebrow. The woman was cooking breakfast on a Saturday? There was no need for her to trouble herself so early in the morning; neither she nor Kurama had somewhere to be at a certain time. Kurama could just as well have been left to make his own breakfast. Hiei didn't mind the faulty logic. He couldn't explain why, but he found it rather relaxing to watch the ningen woman cook. He was suddenly struck( as Shiori slid a spatula underneath a pancake and flipped it) by how much this woman reminded him of Yukina.

Hiei was startled out of his thoughts by a second set of footsteps inside. He snorted when he saw Kurama ambling tiredly down the staircase, tousle-haired, his eyes half-closed, wrapped in a house robe. The fox peered sleepily into the kitchen. Shiori turned and giggled when she saw her normally impeccably-groomed son. "I was wondering when you'd smell them. Would you get out the orange juice?"

The two sat down to eat, already talking pleasantly with each other. Hiei was not as interested in their conversation as he was in their actions. Kurama smiled cheerfully at his mother as he took several pancakes from the plate. _He's still so happy_, Hiei thought. _It hasn't really been that long since he thought he might lose her_. He watched as they filled each other's glasses, passed each other napkins, and relaxed comfortably with each other. Hiei watched as Kurama reached under the table to squeeze Shiori's hand.

To his horror, Hiei felt his throat tighten. His body was shaking slightly, and he did not have any idea why. He clenched his fists and tried to gain control of himself. He turned quickly away from the window and stared at a bird's nest on the opposite limb from his until he heard sounds of dishes being put into the sink. He saw Kurama walk out of the kitchen, stretching, and quickly ran a hand over his face, trying to tell whether it was convincingly expressionless, in case Kurama came outside. Sure enough, the front door opened a short time later, and Kurama stepped outside and knelt to pick up a newspaper that had been left on the doorstep. His eyes moved upward through the trees, searching. Hiei suddenly leaped up through the limbs of his tree, stopping when he reached the point at which he knew he could not be seen from the ground. He watched Kurama look around once more, looking slightly uncertain, then straighten up and walk back inside. Hiei watched him close the door, an unreadable expression on his face.

=================================

A blast of cold air greeted Kurama as he pulled open a glass door in the "frozen entrees" aisle. After a brief search, he picked out a bag of frozen green peas and placed them in his cart. He closed the door, which sealed itself with a soft _whoosh_, and crossed off the word "peas," written in his mother's neat handwriting, from the list. He looked around to get his bearings, then made his way toward the meat aisle.

_((--kill you slowly, if you prefer--))_

Kurama stopped suddenly in the middle of the aisle, not daring to move. _Again? In the middle of the day this time?_

His head darted from side to side, searching for rust colored hair or a flash of green eyes. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing but normal, everyday shoppers bending over shelves and pushing past each other toward display stands.

--_a lot of fun for me, anyway_--

Kurama pressed a hand to his forehead, letting his cool fingers penetrate the heat that was rising there. More flashbacks. Now. In the middle of a crowded supermarket. And the boy was nowhere close. He felt the hand on his forehead squeeze, its fingers attempting to form a fist. _I can't lose control of myself here._

_((--till the sun comes up if I have to--))_

Kurama forced his body to straighten, steadied himself, and resumed walking. The people around him faded into meaningless blurs of color and sound as he focused on moving, putting one foot in front of the other. What was he supposed...oh, yes, a roast. Shiori wanted a roast. The overhead lights bounced off the clear plastic shelves and blinded him, made it hard for him to think...

**((light bouncing off the blade of a broadsword pulled from the wall, stolen many years earlier from a wealthy pseudo-weapons expert))**

_((--or a sword if you'd rather. I'll let you choose what comes first--))_

Kurama gritted his teeth hard to stifle the cry that welled up inside him. Not here, not here. Everyone would think he was crazy if he screamed..._Is that what you want? To publicly drive me insane?_

The grocery list was clenched so hard in his hand that his fingernails had torn it. He shut his eyes tightly, then opened them wide to force himself back into reality. Closing his hands tightly on his cart's handlebar, he forced himself to enter the meat section of the supermarket.

The roasts all looked the same. Kurama glanced at each to find the best price. He noticed that meat juice had collected in almost all the packages, and in some cases on the outside.

_((--whatever you want, just tell me and I'll make sure I remember--))___

$4.25, now is that by the pound or for the entire package? She won't want me to spend too much on this one thing. I should look at--He jerked and bit his lip, not stopping till he felt his teeth draw blood. Who cared? Who cared which piece of dead cow they ended up eating? God, that poor man, he'd--

No. NO. He should care. That was all he needed to care about right now. He was a human boy grocery shopping for his mother, who loved him very much and would cook dinner when he got home. He wasn't in some unholy pit in Makai, lighting a torch and preparing to...That was all.

**((The small flame caught on the tip of the wooden stick. He shook out the match and lifted the torch, illuminating his captive's eyes as well as his own.))**

_((Now tell me...))_

That was all. The meat juice from the roast he'd chosen ran pink down his arm.

_((What are you afraid of?))_

Kurama swayed and fell to his knees, the world swirling into darkness around him.

===================================

((Backed up against a tree trunk shaking and gasping for air, this was it, there was no way he would live through it this time, the man was raising his sword now, he was going to die here and without ever even seeing her...

"You're dead, understand? You've killed us all, you've killed us all and now I'm gonna kill you, die, you little ba--what th---ahh-ah----aaaaAAAAHHH! AAAAAHH! AAAAAAHHHH!------"))

A sharp thud, a pain in his shoulder, what was going on?--

Hiei's eyes flew open. He realized immediately why his shoulder hurt; he had fallen out of a tree. He sat up, checking himself for other injuries. Where had that come from? He hadn't had that dream in years. Hearing about this strange dream-sickness of Kurama's must have caused him nightmares, too. He picked pieces of grass out of his damp hair and took a deep breath, thinking vaguely that he might ask Kurama if he would wash this outfit so it wouldn't smell like sweat...

Wait. Hiei's breath caught in his throat. He had been asleep! He ran up to Kurama's house, not bothering to hide himself, searching for Shiori. Looking around rather wildly, he caught sight of her on the front porch with a watering can. He sighed with relief; at least she hadn't been hurt because of his blunder. How on earth could he have let that happen? He hadn't even felt tired, last he remembered...

Hiei waited for his heart rate to slow while he watched Shiori water her flowers, pausing before each group and carefully pouring just the right amount, making sure none were missed.

Hiei shook his head, still angry with himself. He wished that he knew how long he had been out. The sun was lowering behind the trees; he might've been asleep all afternoon. He couldn't afford to do that again. Kurama had trusted him with his mother's life; he didn't want to think about how he would feel if she died because he'd been _asleep..._

Hiei snorted suddenly as he watched Shiori pause before her yellow roses in the corner of her garden. Hiei had figured that Kurama probably gave his own brand of "assistance" to the flowers in his yard, but he had shaken his head in disbelief at the roses. He wasn't a gardener, but he had lived with Youko long enough to be familiar with which kinds of plants did well in which kinds of soil, and he knew for a fact that these yellow roses should have never bloomed in a place like this. He had asked Kurama about it, and the fox had given him a sheepish grin and admitted that they were alive only because of his continued care.

"I asked them if they would mind," he had said, blushing a little. _"I said 'please.'...It's just that...she smiles when she sees yellow roses..."_

Hiei had rolled his eyes at the sentiment, but thought now that he sort of understood what the fox meant. The woman had a warm, genuine smile; he had seen the way she looked at Kurama, as if he were the light of her life, as if nothing else in the world mattered to her...

**((He looked at the ground as he spoke, not wanting to meet Youko's eyes.**

_"I think...that I'm going to go and find them...find out where the island is, I mean, so I can go see it...you know, ask them why..."_

**Youko nodded, his expression carefully neutral.**

_"Are you sure that's what you want to do?"_

**Hiei clenched his fists loosely, looking up.**

_"I think that...well, even if...you know, _she's _not there, maybe there's someone else who might want...I mean, you know how it is, they take care of each other."_

**Youko searched out the boy's eyes and held them. Then he shrugged indifferently and turned away.**

_"If it's something you feel like you need to do, who am I to stop you? Go."_

**Hiei smiled at him uncertainly( he was still uncomfortable with this facial expression).**

**Youko paused at the entrance to his cave and looked back over his shoulder at Hiei. The younger boy could see something very much like gentleness in the Thief Lord's expression.**

_"I'll be here if you need me..."))_

Hiei gritted his teeth at the unbidden memory. _You knew it was bull_, he thought at Kurama, _the thing I wanted. But you let me do it anyway and find out for myself._

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, closing his eyes and leaning backward against his tree.

"You're very loyal to him."

Hiei jerked and sat up straight. There was a person, a boy, right next to him on the tree branch.

"I mean to say, you tend to hold yourself accountable for his responsibilities." The boy nodded toward the house, where Shiori was turning on lamps to make up for the fading sunlight.

The boy seemed, for an instant, to flicker.

Hiei stared at him. How had this boy gotten so close to him without being heard, or at least sensed? Hiei concentrated, and realized that this boy was emitting no spirit energy whatsoever, not even the normal human amount. He knew, very suddenly, who this boy was.

"What do you want?" he snarled. "Why are you threatening Kurama?"

The boy gave a dark little smile. "And there you go again."

Hiei narrowed his eyes. "I am not in the mood. Tell me what you want and who you work for and I might not kill you."

"You watch her so closely. I can tell that you would protect her with your life if you had to. But you're not hers, Koorime. She doesn't know you."

Hiei hesitated. He had absolutely no idea how to react. If he killed the boy, they might lose valuable information about his employer, assuming he had one. Again, if he killed the boy, they might not know if he had one till it was too late.

"So you must be doing this purely as a favor to Kurama, am I right?"

Was there anything he could do? The boy didn't seem to be here for the purpose of harming Shiori...

The boy saw Hiei's eyes flicker toward the house. "She is in no danger. I mean her no harm; I never did. Kurama is the only one I want hurt."

This statement had an unmistakable ring of truth. Hiei's eyes narrowed further.

"If you want Kurama, what are you doing here? He has not been home all day; surely you would be able to find that out and not risk showing yourself. Unless you are a complete idiot."

The boy didn't appear to take offense. "You watch her for Kurama, but...you watch her for yourself, too, right?"

Hiei blinked, caught totally off guard. "What?" He searched his mind for a possible meaning to this accusation. His face colored slightly. "Are you suggesting--"

This earned a chuckle from the boy. "Of course not. I know you don't feel for the woman in _that_ way. She's not a suitable wife for you. But...she is a mother."

Hiei's lips tightened. "What the _devil_ are you talking about?"

"You're curious," the boy said simply. "She loves her son. You've never felt that before. I think you like to watch it."

Hiei's mouth opened slightly. Didn't this boy know he could kill him?...

"That's why you've been getting upset. And you had a dream just now, right? You were afraid you were going to die before you met your--"

"Don't open your mouth again," Hiei hissed.

"He found a family here...you haven't been able to do that, right? Wherever he goes he seems to find people to take care of him and you've never been--"

Hiei shook his head and there was a sharp metallic sound as he drew his katana. "What. Do. You. Want?"

The boy leaned in closer. "I want you to listen to what I have to say. He deserves to pay for his crimes. I'm going to give him what he deserves."

Hiei shook his head wonderingly. What in the world was he talking--

The boy, breathing hard, caught sight of Hiei's expression. "You don't understand. It's all right; you will. And you'll know I'm right. You'll know he has to be killed. I'll still accept your help when you come to your senses."

Hiei laughed at this, more to cover up his own unsettledness than to show any real mirth. "You're full of it."

The boy nodded. "I'll still accept your help," he repeated, "when you come to understand what he's done to you."

Hiei was distracted by a flare of brightness in the house. He turned his head sharply, but it was only the television set being turned on in the living room. He jerked his head back toward the boy, but all his eyes found were rustling leaves and the darkness of the falling night.

============================================

"So what do you say?"

"Two bucks says you won't do it."

"Hey!"

"Gimmie a break. You'll chicken out."

Kuwabara shoved a thumb toward his chest. "The great Kazuma Kuwabara does not 'chicken out.' Prepare to lose two bucks."

Yusuke, completely unconcerned, took a bite of his taco. "So eat it already."

Kuwabara eyed the red chili pepper apprehensively. "You're sure this isn't gonna give me hives or somethin'?"

"Told you you'd chicken out."

"Hey, I didn't say I wasn't gonna do it, okay? Just tryin' to get in the zone, here. You better be serious about the two bucks."

Yusuke rubbed his mouth with a napkin, then took a drink of Coke. "Somehow I don't think it'll be an issue. Is this my drink?"

"You little--"

"Yusuke!"

Kuwabara jerked in surprise at the new voice and accidentally dropped the hot pepper down his throat. He choked and pounded his chest. Yusuke turned toward the door of the taco place, where Botan stood, looking out of breath and bad-tempered. She started to stomp toward him and Kuwabara, who was now making odd gasping noises and fanning his mouth.

"Uh-oh, I think we're in trouble," Yusuke muttered. "What is it now?"

Botan stopped beside their table and threw a briefcase down onto it, causing Yusuke to back up in alarm and put down his Coke. Kuwabara seized it, ripped off the lid, and started drinking furiously.

"Where on earth have you been; it took me all _day_ to track you down!" Botan said irritably, still panting.

"Um, well, I went to the arcade at around ten, then I had lunch, then me and Kuwabara beat up this gang of--"

Botan waved her hand in the air. "Never mind. We need to go somewhere private. Koenma wants a word with you."

"Ah, _man_," Yusuke complained as Kuwabara surfaced from underneath the table, gasping for air. "I never get a vacation, is that it?"

Botan threw up her hands. "He's wanted to talk to you all day; for all we know it could be urgent, Yusuke, come on."

"All right, all right," Yusuke said, slightly alarmed. "Let's go to the alley around back; we can talk there."

After a brief argument over whether or not Kuwabara deserved the two bucks( after all, Yusuke reasoned, he hadn't actually _meant_ to eat the pepper), the three of them were positioned around Botan's briefcase in the rapidly darkening back alley of the taco place. Botan opened it and pressed a few buttons on the inside. The inside of the lid flickered to life, and the magnified face of Koenma, prince of Reikai, appeared on the screen.

"Yusuke, where on earth have you been all day?" he asked in exasperation.

Yusuke threw up his arms. "So much for pleasant conversation. I have to eat dinner, you know. Sorry if I'm not on call twenty four freakin' hours a day now."

"Well, whatever. I have something I need you to be aware of Yusuke."

"So I gathered," Yusuke said, rubbing his neck.

"The other day, I was informed that a dimensional anomaly had been spotted while monitoring your town.

Yusuke blinked. "A dimensional..."

"It means, in this case, that there is a point in your town at which the dimension wall is unstable." Koenma rubbed his temples. "This could mean a number of things, none of which bode well for us."

Kuwabara shifted nervously. "You mean like someone could be pulling a Sensui?"

Koenma nodded. "That is one possibility, that someone is trying to cut another tunnel to Makai. Or a portal to somewhere else. It's also possible that someone is trying to get into human world from somewhere else. Or who knows, there might even be something wrong with this dimension itself, which" he continued darkly, looking around at them," would probably be worse."

There was an uncomfortable silence in which everyone considered this.

"...Well," Yusuke began, "I guess we won't know anything till we go out and have a look at it ourselves. Where exactly in town is this ano...this weird dimension spot?"

Koenma inhaled slowly. "Well, that's the thing... the vortex spot appears...not to be exactly static."

Botan raised her eyebrows. "You mean it's moving, sir?"

Koenma snorted impatiently. "Yeah, it's moving. Almost constantly. There's no telling what kind of ticking time bomb this thing could be or what might set it off. What's worse, there is no detectable pattern in its movement, no way to tell where it will go next. It's almost as if the blasted thing has free will."

Kuwabara paled. "So...so it could just like explode and cause a black hole or something in the middle of the city, like, anywhere at anytime?"

Koenma crossed his arms. "Well...I guess that's about the size of it, yeah."

"So what the heck are we supposed to do about it??"

"Well, for now, I think all we _can_ do is wait. If one of you runs into it, and that's assuming you realize it if you do, try to collect as much data about it as possible."

"All right," Kuwabara said, looking at Koenma like he was crazy. "I know I'm no expert on this kind of thing, but walking around waiting for it to hit us doesn't seem like it's such a great plan." He turned to Yusuke. "Back me up here, Urameshi."

Yusuke was staring off into the distance, frowning. "Hey, Koenma....this vortex thing...instead of a person causing it, could it actually _be_ a person?"

Koenma looked at him blankly. "Could the vortex be a person?"

"Yeah. I mean, that would explain what you said about it moving around and having free will and stuff, right?"

Koenma shrugged slowly. "Well...it would be unusual, but I suppose a creature of some sort is not outside the realm of possib--hold on." He looked sharply at Yusuke. "Where did you come up with this idea? Have you seen something unusual?"

"Well..." Yusuke hesitated. Somehow he didn't think Kurama would appreciate him telling Koenma about this.

Botan clapped a hand to her forehead. "Of course! Yusuke, you're absolutely right, why didn't I think to mention that?" She turned toward Koenma. "A few days ago, Kurama called us all together and told us that he'd been threatened by a strange boy that had approached him. Kurama had been having nightmares about him!"

Koenma raised his eyebrows. "You're serous? What else did he tell you about the boy?"

Botan thought hard. "Only that he said he wanted to hurt Kurama...and that--" She gasped. "He told us that he couldn't feel spirit energy from the boy! Koenma, sir, wouldn't that fit if the boy were some kind of dimension warp?"

Koenma was nodding excitedly. "That would make sense, yes...but hold on, this...whoever this is wants to hurt Kurama? Why? Did he give a reason?"

"Well, no," Botan said, shrugging. "At least, not according to Kurama."

"Well, I suppose that doesn't mean all that much...there are probably hundreds of demons that would jump at the chance to take revenge on Youko Kurama for one reason or another, and if this one has somehow gained strange powers that allow him to travel to Ningenkai..."

"But this boy was human," Botan pointed out. "And according to Kurama he was young. What could a human want revenge on him for? It would have to have been something done in the last seventeen years."

Kuwabara said, "Maybe we should ask Kurama that."

Koenma waved his hand impatiently. "That goes without saying. We should do it as soon as possible, too. Does anyone know where he is?"

Botan shrugged. "I didn't see him or Hiei at all while I was looking for Yusuke."

"Well, then, we'll try to catch him tomorrow. First thing, all right? We don't know how urgent this situation might be."

Botan nodded. "Right, sir, I'll find him in the morning. We should all meet at Yusuke's house as soon as we wake up. And I don't mean two o'clock in the afternoon, Yusuke."

"Right, whatever," Yusuke said distractedly. _Man, I hope he's not mad at me for telling...even if it was actually Botan that did it._

Koenma nodded at them all. "Keep safe till then. Over and out."

=====================================

Kurama closed his front door behind him and leaned up against it with his eyes closed. He had thought he'd never get home.

"Shuichi?" His mother ran into the hallway. "Shuichi, where have you been all day? Did you go to the grocery store?" She gasped when she saw him more clearly. "Shuichi, are you all right? What happened?" She reached out a hand to brush his hair back from his forehead, Blood was beginning to stain a white bandage that had been placed there.

Kurama winced; he hadn't exactly thought up a cover story. What had actually happened, of course, was that had fainted, falling facedown and striking his head on the sharp metal corner of a meat shelf. When he'd next opened his eyes, he had been blinded by sunlight and had realized that he was on his knees in the parking lot, looking up into the concerned face of an elderly woman who had apparently taken him outside. She'd asked him if he was all right and if he remembered his name. He had assured her, once he had regained his senses, that he was fine and had told her his name and address to prove that his head injury was not serious. She had continued to talk to him, asking if he had a medical condition and if she needed to take him to the hospital. When he had convinced her that he would be all right, she had insisted that he walk with her to her house up the street and let her bandage his forehead. He had tried to refuse, but her insistence and the fact that he was touched by her so obviously genuine concern had won him over and he'd allowed her to walk him home and clean and dress his wound. They had started talking( she had given him some of the cookies she'd made for her visiting grandchildren) and he, exhausted emotionally, had fallen asleep on her couch and had not woken up until nightfall. He'd been quite embarrassed, but she had sent him on his way, laughing, and he'd only just made it home. Now, as Shiori looked at him fearfully, he supposed that he might as well tell the truth.

"I fell down at the supermarket," he admitted. "I hit my head and was knocked out, but a kind woman took care of the cut."

"Goodness, I hope you thanked her," Shiori said, relief filling her eyes. "And I'm glad you're all right; do you want something to drink?"

Kurama accepted gratefully and walked with Shiori into the kitchen.

==============================================

Ten minutes later, Kurama was sitting at the desk in his room with his math homework and a mug of hot chocolate. He had just pulled out his calculator to help with a difficult problem when a noise at his window made him look up. Hiei was perched on the sill, looking uncomfortable.

"Hello," Kurama said, surprised. He had thought Hiei would be asleep by now. "Would you like to...sit down?" he asked awkwardly--he usually didn't have to ask.

Hiei shook his head slowly, still looking distracted. He glanced over at Kurama. "I heard you tell your mother that you fell down and got hurt."

Kurama hesitated, then nodded. He decided that he wouldn't tell Hiei everything that had happened; this boy was waging war on him and he intended to win on his own.

Hiei raised his eyebrows. "_You_ fell down."

Kurama shrugged uncomfortably. "It happens."

Hiei snorted. "Not to you."

Kurama rolled his eyes impatiently. "And did you just come in to make fun of me?"

It was Hiei's turn to hesitate. He knew that he should tell Kurama about his encounter with the boy, but...he would undoubtedly want to know what they had talked about, and some of the things that the boy had said had disturbed him...He felt that he wanted a little time to think about them on his own before he let Kurama examine them. Finally, he said, "Hn...are you all right?"

Kurama shrugged again and nodded. Hiei took this as a sign that Kurama wanted to be left alone. Turning to jump out the window, he paused and looked over his shoulder. "...I'll keep watching her, but...I don't think that Shiori is this boy's target, Kurama."

Kurama nodded. "Yeah, I think you're right about that. Good night."

Hiei nodded and left the room. Kurama closed the window behind him, deep in thought. He had somehow gotten the feeling that Hiei had not told him all of what he had to say. Kurama then realized that he was guilty of the same thing. He sat down on his bed.

Well, he thought as he rested his head on his pillow, _I'm sure I'll know about it soon enough, whatever it is._

Somehow, this thought was not comforting.

The lights in the house darkened one by one, and the Minamino family slept, while their protector sat silently in an oak tree, his face half-hidden in the shadows of the night.

========================================

A/N: (Faints from exhaustion) Wow, that went a little longer than I expected...It took me about eight hours to write it...but I think it turned out all right. Now you tell me what _you_ think, and as always I'll give thought to any suggestions you have, even if I don't end up taking them... (smiles) Thank you so much for reading, and I'll update as soon as I can!


	5. someone who should have been born is gon...

A/N: Hi, everyone. (dodges projectiles) I know, it's inexcusable. But I started college this year, which was a major upheaval in my life and unfortunately doesn't leave me much free time. But I finally found time at the computer, and this chapter flew out of my fingers. (grins) So enjoy—this chapter contains a Big Moment.

Review Responses:

Yami no Kokoro: Thanks! I liked the supermarket scene, too. You'll hopefully find out what has the kid so upset in this chapter, but you'll have to wait on Hiei's part in it. (grins) Hope you like it.

Lady-Videl: Sorry for the wait, lol. This one took me a while, too. Hiei is a loner, but hopefully he'll be OK in the end. Thanks for reviewing!

Hanzo Hattori: Thanks, that means a lot. I really am trying not to fall into too many Hiei-Kurama cliché pits with this story. I'm glad you think it's working. I hope you enjoy this one.

SkyFireDragon13: It was a bit of a wait, wasn't it? But I told you over and over that I wouldn't just abandon it…so there. I hope you like this one; we didn't discuss it at all before I just sat down and started writing, so…surprise! Lol.

RainyDayz et al: (bows with pleas for forgiveness) Thank you for reminding me I needed to move my butt. I think it's been like half a year since I worked on this story. I really enjoyed writing this chapter. Maybe you'll find out if your predictions were right—and thanks for not telling the other reviewers, lol, (grins) Enjoy; you've waited long enough!

Cracks in the Mask

Ch. 5—someone who should have been born is gone

_Youko sat on a moss-covered rock, his face resting in his hands. The stars were cold that night, and although he hardly considered it a necessity, he appreciated the crackling warmth of the fire Elani had insisted upon making. _

_Elani herself, along with Kazu and Kuronue, was asleep in the fortuitously-placed cave in the side of the cliff whose wall they had followed all day. In fact, finding the cave had been what convinced them to stop and make camp; although there was no wind, the cold had bitten into them mercilessly since sunset, and no one looked forward to leaving the protection of the cave for his watch shift that night. _

_Youko had taken first watch, although Kuronue had offered. It would have been a lie to say that the cold didn't bother him, but he was more than capable of withstanding such a small-scale discomfort. He leaned back, splaying his hands behind him, and looked up idly at the treetops. _

_A soft rustle of grass made him freeze, instantly alert, but he relaxed as his eyes focused on the dark shape a few feet away who was apparently shifting to a more comfortable position. Youko knew for a fact that Hiei's claims that he didn't mind the cold were absolute bull (look at his genetic makeup; Hiei himself was the one who always said, often self-deprecatingly, that you couldn't argue with biology), but the fire demon's dislike of enclosed spaces seemed to outweigh his disdain for chill weather, and he had chosen to sleep outside next to the fire, silent company for whoever was standing guard. _Like hell I'm going to stand, _Youko added to himself, now absently poking the fire with a stick. _

_The sound of approaching footsteps, real this time, jerked Youko out of his thoughts, and he tensed for an attack with an involuntary warning growl. _

"_Oh, shut up," Elani said moodily as she made her way up from the cave. She swerved at the last minute to avoid stepping on Hiei, and a rock caught her heel, causing her to stumble and curse loudly. She kicked the rock irritably, and it clattered down the stone path to the cave's opening. _

"_The echo is rather strong here," Youko remarked. "Are you finished, or did you want to make a bit more noise?" _

_Elani suggested that he go do something unpleasant to himself, then sat down beside him on the rock, grimacing when the wet moss soaked the seat of her pants. "Go to bed. I'll take the next couple of hours." _

_Sleep sounded good, but Youko somehow couldn't muster the desire to move, and Elani didn't ask again. They sat in silence until Hiei moved in his sleep again. _

"_He must be dreaming," Elani remarked. "If I'd stepped on him, he might have torched me to a crisp in his sleep." She paused. "Although that actually doesn't sound too unattractive right now. I wonder if he's capable." _

_Youko reacted to this with a slightly troubled expression, and glanced down at the fire. When he looked back up, it was to find Elani's eyes squarely meeting his._

"_He's been with us for a few years now," she said, not accusatorially, but with a firmness that told him this conversation was not going to just go away. He nodded and found himself gazing into the fire again._

"_How much longer, do you think?" she asked mildly._

_He looked at her sharply, then dropped his gaze stubbornly to his hands. "I need more time."_

_She nodded slowly, still looking at him. "More time."_

"Yes_," he growled, getting defensive. "I seem to remember telling you that it would take time." _

_She said nothing in reply to this, but merely turned her head to look into the fire along with him. Somewhere in the back of his mind, it occurred to Youko that he was sitting downwind of the flame, allowing the smell of woodsmoke to seep into his clothes and hair. He made a vague mental note to remember to wash before the next raid. "You think he's a liability?" he asked suddenly. "His presence endangers the group, is that what you're trying to tell me?"_

_Elani waved a hand impatiently. "You know I like him well enough, and Kazu took to him the second he saw him. Kuronue…well, I don't really think he cares one way or the other, but you know how he is. He's not a liability; we'd all probably be just as happy if he stayed longer. That wasn't my point. It's you I'm wondering about."_

_Youko bristled. "And what do you mean by that?"_

_Elani was silent for a moment, then said, simply, "I'm worried."_

_Youko laughed harshly. _

_Elani's eyes narrowed slightly in irritation. "I'm worried that you're going—"_

_Youko stood furiously. "Going _soft?"_ he hissed, his eyes glinting dangerously._

"_Going to end up hurting yourself," Elani finished calmly. _

_This statement was so uncharacteristic of the woman sitting before him that Youko almost could not think how to respond. He looked down at her blankly for several seconds as she poked the fire, trying unsuccessfully to raise the flames. _

"_Curse it, Elani," a new voice complained from just outside the cave, "You've let it burn down to embers and it's still hours till sunup—" Kazu stopped when he saw Youko. "What are you still doing out here?" _

_Elani stood, abandoning the fire, and walked over to meet Kazu. "Where's Kuronue? Didn't he want to go first?"_

_Kazu rolled his eyes. "Said he'd cut my head off with that gods-cursed sickle if I bothered him again. Lazy bastard." _

"_You should feel honored, that's the most he's said in about two days." _

_The others' conversation faded into meaningless background noise as Youko stood, still staring into the last, rather pathetic embers of their fire. A few feet away, Hiei stirred and raised himself up onto his elbow, blinking sleep from his eyes._

"_And why can't _he_ take a watch?" Kazu demanded, pointing at him._

"_Oh, but then we'd miss finding out if Kuronue really does slice you in two when _you_ wake him for his shift," Elani answered._

"_Hold on a—"_

_Hiei looked blankly at Youko. "What's going on?"_

_Youko tore his gaze from the fire and looked Hiei in the face for a few seconds. Then he sighed. "I'm going to sleep," he said bluntly, and strode back toward the cave._

…………………………

Kurama opened his eyes a slit and closed them again. It was just as well he had woken up when he did; the uneasiness brought about by his and Elani's conversation that night had left him tense, and back in the cave he and Kuronue had gotten into quite a nasty argument over a triviality that Kurama now only vaguely remembered. He thought, with a certain slight pang he hadn't felt in a long time, that he would rather not relive that.

He rolled onto his stomach and growled into his pillow. He was doing the boy's work for him now. The dream had come naturally, requiring no outside interference, and he had already found a way to torture himself about it. Two ways, he thought with a flinch, thinking about Hiei's still form by the fire.

He kicked his blankets, suddenly very angry. Hiei, Shiori, Kuronue…everything hurt to touch. He almost wished the boy were here, so that he could snarl at him that what he was doing was completely pointless. As if he needed these reminders that he'd royally screwed up every relationship he'd ever had. And what was that incessant tapping noise?

Kurama jerked his head out of the blankets irritably and saw Botan hovering outside his window, knocking determinedly on the glass. When she saw him look at her, she smiled in apparent relief and beckoned to him enthusiastically. Kurama sighed and pulled himself out of bed.

He opened the window after a few seconds of fiddling with the latch, and she zoomed inside and hopped off her oar to stand in front of him. "Thank goodness, you weren't moving; I was getting a little worried. Where were you all yesterday; none of us could find you…"

She leaned in anxiously, and he felt his irritation flare up again.

"I split my head open at the supermarket," he replied shortly, feeling a sort of spiteful satisfaction at the way she recoiled at his tone.

"…Oh," she said, clearly at a loss. "Well…where's Hiei? I can't find him either…"

The mention of Hiei, inexplicably, made him angrier. "I'd guess he's in that damned tree, right where he always is, Botan," he snapped. "Sorry if I can't be sure, but we're not actually fused at the hip like you all seem to think."

He watched her blink in surprise and hurt, and immediately felt ashamed of himself. "Sorry," he said, as gently as he could with his hands still shaking from frustration. "I didn't sleep well. _Is_ Hiei in the tree?"

"No," she said, still a little defensive. "I looked in all of them to make sure, but he's nowhere near the house."

"He may have gone to get food," Kurama suggested. "He refuses to eat with me, so…"

"I suppose," she said doubtfully, then shook her head. "There's no time; we'll just have to talk without him. The reason I came was to tell you that we're all meeting up at Yusuke's house to discuss what Koenma calls a dimensional anomaly and Yusuke calls 'that stupid flower kid.' We had better hurry; I got on to Yusuke yesterday about always being late…"

She jumped back onto her oar and flew back outside, hovering over the house to wait for him. Kurama dressed hurriedly and ran down the stairs, his mind racing. "Flower kid?" "Dimensional anomaly?" His heart pounded. Did they know what he was? _Did they know why he was doing all this? _

His last thought as he closed the screen door behind him and chased Botan's shadow at a run, was that some part of him hoped not.

……………………………

"They'll all be here by now," Botan said as she and Kurama made their way up the Urameshis' front walk. She knocked, and was rewarded with a slightly slurred shout of "It's open!" She looked at Kurama, who shrugged, and they stepped through the door to find Yusuke's mother sprawled out on a couch in front of the television, loosely clutching a glass of some ambiguous alcoholic beverage.

Atsuko smiled blearily at them. "More of you? I've seen _you_ before," she added to Botan, who beamed back. "You're here to see Yusuke, right? The rest are all upstairs. Never knew he was so popular, I'm starting to think he's joined a gang or something…only the two of you don't exactly look like street muscle, so…what, then? Embezzlement?"

Sensing that Botan might start babbling in an effort to reassure Atsuko, Kurama smiled politely at the woman. "Thank you, we'll show ourselves up."

Atsuko sent them off with a wave and returned to her soap opera. Kurama and Botan started up the stairs to Yusuke's room. Kurama noticed the complete lack of wall decoration and wondered if Atsuko even had any school pictures of Yusuke. Just as it dawned on him that "school pictures" implied "school attendance"—

_Wumph. _"DAMMIT!"

Kurama blinked, attempting to process this. Botan said, "Guess this is the place," and opened the door, which was rather difficult as Kuwabara's unconscious form was slumped against the other side. Kurama stepped over him into the room and glanced at Yusuke, who was crouching on the bed with an expression of mingled surprise and alarm.

"Uh. Guess no more rocket launcher games," he said blankly, looking up at Kurama. "We were wondering when you'd get here."

"Sorry it took so long, Kurama's a heavy slee—what on earth?" Botan exclaimed as she stepped into the room and nearly fell flat on her face tripping over Kuwabara, who moaned and twitched.

"Looks like he's regaining consciousness," commented Koenma, who was sitting against the far wall, well out of the way of any stray human projectiles.

"I thought for sure he'd go right through the door…" Yusuke mused. "Hey, Botan! I just realized! You're late! I wasn't late!"

"It's your _own house_, Yusuke. You never left in the first place."

"Yeah, so technically I was here first. Bunch of slackers."

"Where's Hiei?" Koenma asked Kurama as Botan attempted to revive Kuwabara.

Kurama shrugged. "We couldn't find him this morning. You know Hiei; there's no telling where he went."

Koenma rolled his eyes in agreement. "Well, sit down. We should probably go ahead and get started."

"In case the kid explodes today and a black hole sucks up the world," Yusuke added. "You guys want some nachos? I never got to finish dinner last night."

"In case…what?" Kurama asked, completely bewildered. _Explodes? What on earth did they talk about without me?_ "The boy…you mean…do you know who he is?"

"It's more like _what_ we think he is, actually," Koenma said.

"There's a dimensional anomaly—sort of a vortex spot—somewhere in the city, constantly on the move," said Botan.

"And you think that the boy…_is_ this…anomaly?" said Kurama, his mind racing. _The boy flickering as he touched the cherry blossom tree, seeming to blink in and out of reality…like a fuzzy television screen…_

"That's the conclusion we came to last night," Koenma said. "I've modified the theory a little since then."

"How do you mean?" Botan asked as Kuwabara finally opened his eyes and looked blearily around the room, his mouth slightly open.

Koenma was silent for a few moments. Then he said, to Kurama, "Are you familiar with the branch of magic known as necromancy?"

Kurama looked at him quickly, taken by surprise. "Well…yes, I know what it is. I don't know how to do it, if that's what you're asking."

"Necro…" Yusuke said slowly. "Isn't that like where you screw around with dead people?"

"Or at least their spirits," Koenma answered. "If I'm right, and I think I am, it's what's happening with your acquaintance, Kurama. His spirit was called back from Reikai to perform a service to the one who called him."

"So he's just a slave?" asked Kurama, a bit unsettled by this thought. "He has no choice but to do what he's told?"

"It's more complicated than that," Koenma replied. "To an extent, the necromancer has control over the summoned spirit. But the ghost of a sentient creature, such as a human, is hard to control against its will and will resist an order it finds disagreeable. _You_ should know that," he added dryly, looking over at Yusuke, who grinned.

"It takes much less energy on the part of the necromancer to direct a spirit who shares his goals," Koenma continued. "From what I've been told about this boy, Kurama, he seems pretty passionate about carrying out his orders. Know of any humans who want you dead?"

"I _don't know_ this boy," Kurama said emphatically. "I have no idea how _he_ knows _me_. And even though every demon in Makai would probably cut off his hand to see me dead, I can't think of any human who would want to kill me."

There were a few moments of perplexed silence.

"You know," said Kuwabara, who had been listening quietly, "if Koenma's right about this necro thing, it seems like maybe we should stop looking for the kid for a while and start worrying about who summoned him."

Koenma looked at Kuwabara in surprise and then nodded. "He's got a point."

"Must be the concussion," Yusuke commented.

"Unfortunately, we can't ignore the kid completely." Koenma looked around at them. "If he's a displaced spirit, he's still quite an unstable dimensional imbalance. Summonings, especially complex ones like humans, don't last forever—it takes a powerful necromancer to keep them grounded in the human world for over a week. When that's over, or when the spirit's task has been completed, the dimension will right itself, crushing the spirit out of existence and taking any soul touching it along for the ride."

Kurama tried to take all this in. "Does he know he's going to…well, die? No matter what?"

Koenma nodded. "Most likely. He'll know he has nothing to lose."

Yusuke looked around the room, nonplussed. "So what exactly have we learned here? Don't touch ghosts?"

"We've learned that he…well, that he doesn't have much time left," said Botan, a little uncomfortably. "So…maybe if we just avoid him for the next week or two…"

"Yeah," said Kuwabara darkly. "Except if he doesn't find us before his number comes up he might take some random person with him to oblivion just to spite us."

"The one thing we know for sure," said Koenma, "is that it's not a random person he wants to take. It's Kurama. If we keep an eye on Kurama, the boy will come to us. It will involve some figuring out, but one of us needs to be with him at all times in case the spirit shows up again. That way, Kurama can keep him talking while the scout sounds the alarm to the rest of us. Yusuke, I think you should take the first—"

"No."

Everyone looked around, surprised. Kurama sat on Yusuke's desk chair with his fists clenched in his lap.

"No, what?" Kuwabara asked.

"I don't want you following me around." Kurama's tone was even.

"Why on earth not?" Botan asked. "We're only trying to help."

Kurama tensed in anger. "One of you could get hurt," he muttered.

"Oh…" Botan said uncertainly, then brightened. "You don't need to worry about that. It's our job, isn't it? Getting hurt is part of the risk. It's not a problem."

Yusuke had been looking at Kurama shrewdly since he'd first spoken. "Except that's not the real problem in the first place, is it?"

Kurama narrowed his eyes at him.

Kuwabara said, "I bet he wants to fight by himself. I'd want to if it were me. Maybe he feels like we're babysitting him or something."

Koenma looked disparagingly at Kurama. "What part of 'sound the alarm' didn't you understand?"

"Maybe," said Yusuke. "But I think the real reason you don't want us there is that you don't want the kid talking to us. He's been screwing around in your head, right? I'd bet money he knows something you don't want us to find out."

Kurama stood, kicking over the chair. "If we're done," he said coldly.

"This is not exactly negotiable, Kurama," Koenma said, with the air of someone who knows he's being a bastard but is under too much pressure to care. "You're our only lead here. I can't just let you walk out. I'll arrest you if I have to."

Kurama stared coolly at Koenma, who suddenly wondered with a chill how many generations of his ancestors had said the same thing, and walked out the door, shutting it behind him.

Kuwabara and Botan stared after him with their mouths slightly open. Koenma glanced at Yusuke.

"Man…" Yusuke said uncomfortably, answering what Koenma had asked with his eyes. "Arrest Kurama?"

They looked at each other for a few more seconds, then Koenma deflated. "I know," he said wearily. "Never mind. Damn it. What are we going to do?"

Botan stood wordlessly and left the room.

The others stared after her. "What was that about?" Kuwabara said blankly, rubbing the bruise on his forehead.

………………….

Botan strode purposefully down the street, keeping a good distance between herself and Kurama. She was sure he knew he was being followed; she saw him glance several times at narrow alleyways and large crowds where he might hide himself.

_Let him try to lose me_, she thought grimly. _I don't give a flip if he's the Thief Lord. He can't fly._

They passed Kurama's house, and Botan noted with satisfaction that he seemed to have decided to simply let her be. If he thought he could convince her to let him go off and get himself killed just by being a bi—a rear end, she corrected herself—he had another think coming.

They were walking through a field of flowers. Botan wasn't sure she had ever been here. _Leave it to Kurama to find a meadow in the middle of a subdivision_, she thought. He halted suddenly, and Botan quickly ducked behind a bush on the meadow's edge.

Botan's eyes widened. A boy with rust-red hair and piercing green eyes was walking through the flowers toward the center of the meadow, where Kurama waited, motionless…

………………………

The boy stopped a few feet away from Kurama and regarded him with his usual disdain. "You're here again? Are you going to ask the flowers to comfort you?"

Kurama was past his usual calm analysis of the enemy. He strode up to the boy and bent his head slightly to look him in the face. "You are going to die," he said in a low, cold voice. "You can decide if it's going to be in a few days or _right now_. I am going to ask you this once. Who. The hell. Are you?"

The boy glared up at Kurama. "You can't kill me and you know it," he said, his fists shaking. "And you know exactly who I am."

Kurama shook his head wildly in disbelief. He couldn't take this any more. He looked murderously at the boy. "You invaded my dreams. You made me afraid for my mother's life. You damn near drove me insane in the middle of a supermarket. _I have never seen you before in my life_."

The boy's hands fell limply to his sides, and his eyes became blank green pools. "Your mother," he said emotionlessly. "Not your mother."

Kurama stared at the boy, suddenly uncertain. A cold horror that he couldn't quite explain was growing inside him.

"You tricked her," the boy said, still seemingly detached. "You tricked her your whole life. You stole her. You stole her, Shuichi. You stole me. You stole Shuichi."

The boy's head dropped, as if he might faint, and he flickered twice, three times, and Kurama looked at him and knew.

"Shuichi?" he breathed.

………………………..

For Botan, the world stopped.

She felt as though the earth had simply decided not to spin any longer, and had halted on its axis so suddenly that now she was the one who was spinning. She clutched her head in her hands, to stop it, and sank to her knees in the flowers.

_Please, no… Oh, God, please… _

…………………………

Shuichi looked up at him with green eyes, _his_ green eyes, and then turned slowly and walked away from him toward the edge of the field. For what must have been five full minutes, Kurama stood motionless, his face still.

He then knelt in the flowers and threw up.

When the nausea passed, he stood again and quietly made his way home.

……………………………..

Botan sat behind the bush with her face buried in her knees, rocking slightly and crying, not noticing or caring when the sun finally disappeared completely, and night fell.

……………………………….

A/N: I hope you liked it! Did I handle that last scene all right? Review with comments/suggestions!


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